york swirls

Friday, March 28, 2014

Leah is 9!!

 Leah turned 9 on Wednesday, March 26.  Ryan helped Leah blow out her candles.  She asked for strombolis and chocolate lasagna for her birthday supper.
 Opening her gifts
 Ryan & Grady had to get in on the action.  They like to open presents.
Erin curled & styled Leah's hair and painted her finger nails for her birthday.

Red Back Hymnal Sing

Gary & I went to Nashville, Tennessee, on Tuesday for the Harmony Honors Red Back Hymnal Sing. Many of the Southern Gospel groups gathered to honor the old red back church hymnal.  They formed a choir and sang many of the old hymns together.  Each of the groups also sang one of the hymns.
 The "Choir"
 The Whisnants
 The auditorium was beautiful!
 The Mark Trammell Quartet
 Tribute Quartet
 Former Attorney General John Ashcroft (Attorney General under George W. Bush) is committed to preserving the old hymns.  He was a dynamic speaker!  Thoroughly enjoyed him!!  I would have never  guessed he was a politician!!!  :)
 The Mylon Hayes Family
 Jeff & Sheri Easter
 The Nelons
 The Bowling Family
The Perrys

We had such a good time that evening singing along with all the old hymns.  They filmed this for television.  I believe it will be aired on April 7 on TBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network).  Maybe we'll be famous!  We were sitting in the front row.  Watch for us!

Friday, March 21, 2014

Meet Kaylie Grace...

Autumn's water broke at 2 a.m. Saturday morning, but no contractions followed.  We all waited on pins and needles…and waited…and waited….but no contractions.  The midwife told her to try castor oil on Sunday morning.  By 2:00 that afternoon, contractions were getting stronger and more regular.  I guess that nasty castor oil was worth it!  At 7:36 Sunday evening, Kaylie Grace entered the world.  She weighed 6 lbs. 12 oz. and measured 19 inches long.  Labor and delivery went well.  Kaylie is just the sweetest little thing.  So tiny!!
 Kaylie shortly after birth
 Heather meets Kaylie
 Nanna meets Kaylie
 Kara meets Kaylie
 Laura meets Kaylie
 Meagan & Ryan meet Kaylie
 Leah meets Kaylie
 Erin meets Kaylie
 Pop meets Kaylie
 Pop with his grandkids-- Grady & Kaylie (Autumn's) on his lap & Ryan (Krissy's) standing
 Krissy meets Kaylie
Kaylie on Tuesday.

Saturday, March 8, 2014

From a rodeo to a birthday party...

When Meagan, Heather, and Kara went down to feed calves this morning, they saw that the neighbor had 2 calves out.  The girls got the calves back in while they waited on the neighbor and his son to get there.  When they went to feed our calves, they discovered we had one calf missing.  They hunted all over for her, but she was nowhere to be found.  Then they discovered Eula was in with the neighbor's calves.  She had broken out of our fence and into the neighbor's.  That was a first!
 So Gary, Meagan, Erin, Heather, Laura, Kara, & I, along with the neighbor & his son, had our own rodeo.  Gary parked the Polaris Ranger in the road past the neighbor's driveway, and I parked the van in the road just past our driveway.  Then they had to sort our calf from theirs and herd her out of the gate.  Once Eula came out on the road, Gary got in the Ranger and started herding her towards me.
 Once she got down to where there was open field, she decided to take a detour across the chiseled field that was starting to thaw.  It was slippery on top with patches of snow and ice on the uneven ground.  Erin went running after her, trying to head her back to the road without falling and breaking her ankle again.  Gary took out across the muddy field in the Ranger and cut Eula off.  She started back toward the road.
 But being a dumb cow, she didn't go far before she turned around and headed back out into the field.
 With a little work and running around in circles, they got her headed back to the road and brought her on towards our drive.  Kara, Laura, & I were positioned at various places along the drive to keep her headed towards the barn.  Gary & Meagan already had a pickup and a gate set up as a funnel, and she went right in the barn.  
 Erin's pant legs were covered in mud and the other brown stuff when the rodeo was over.  The wind was raw, and we were all freezing.  We hurried home to get some lunch and straighten up the house in preparation for Ryan's birthday party.
 Ryan absolutely loves Thomas the Train.  I've never seen a 2-year-old so infatuated with something.  His party was a Thomas theme.
 Grady was there to help Ryan celebrate.  He was so excited when Autumn asked him if he wanted to go to Gammy's to see Ryan that he went over to the door and pulled on the handle to go out.  Then he went and got his socks for his mommy to put on him and asked for his shoes.
 Ryan thinks the best part of the cupcake is the frosting!  He's related to his gammy!!
 Ryan got pretty good at opening presents at Christmas-time.  He went right after them.
Grady got in on the action and helped Ryan with some of his presents.  They played together with some of Ryan's new toys after they got them opened.  We all enjoyed watching them play together and interact with each other.  They are such good friends.